8 U.S. Code § 1455 - Fiscal provisions

(a)The Attorney General shall charge, collect, and account for fees prescribed by the Attorney General pursuant to section
9701 of title
31 for the following:

(1)Making, filing, and docketing an application for naturalization, including the hearing on such application, if such hearing be held, and a certificate of naturalization, if the issuance of such certificate is authorized by the Attorney General.

(2)Receiving and filing a declaration of intention, and issuing a duplicate thereof.

(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or any other law, no fee shall be charged or collected for an application for declaration of intention or a certificate of naturalization in lieu of a declaration or a certificate alleged to have been lost, mutilated, or destroyed, submitted by a person who was a member of the military or naval forces of the United States at any time after April 20, 1898, and before July 5, 1902; or at any time after April 5, 1917, and before November 12, 1918; or who served on the Mexican border as a member of the Regular Army or National Guard between June 1916 and April 1917; or who has served or hereafter serves in the military, air, or naval forces of the United States after September 16, 1940, and who was not at any time during such period or thereafter separated from such forces under other than honorable conditions, who was not a conscientious objector who performed no military duty whatever or refused to wear the uniform, or who was not at any time during such period or thereafter discharged from such military, air, or naval forces on account of alienage.

(c)Except as provided by section
1356(q)(2) of this title or any other law, all fees collected by the Attorney General shall be deposited by the Attorney General in the Treasury of the United States except that all such fees collected or paid over on or after October 1, 1988, shall be deposited in the Immigration Examinations Fee Account established under section
1356(m) of this title: Provided, however, That all fees received by the Attorney General from applicants residing in the Virgin Islands of the United States, and in Guam, under this subchapter, shall be paid over to the treasury of the Virgin Islands and to the treasury of Guam, respectively.

(d)During the time when the United States is at war the Attorney General may not charge or collect a naturalization fee from an alien in the military, air, or naval service of the United States for filing an application for naturalization or issuing a certificate of naturalization upon admission to citizenship.

(e)In addition to the other fees required by this subchapter, the applicant for naturalization shall, upon the filing of an application for naturalization, deposit with and pay to the Attorney General a sum of money sufficient to cover the expenses of subpenaing and paying the legal fees of any witnesses for whom such applicant may request a subpena, and upon the final discharge of such witnesses, they shall receive, if they demand the same from the Attorney General, the customary and usual witness fees from the moneys which the applicant shall have paid to the Attorney General for such purpose, and the residue, if any, shall be returned by the Attorney General to the applicant.

(f)

(1)The Attorney General shall pay over to courts administering oaths of allegiance to persons under this subchapter a specified percentage of all fees described in subsection (a)(1) of this section collected by the Attorney General with respect to persons administered the oath of allegiance by the respective courts. The Attorney General, annually and in consultation with the courts, shall determine the specified percentage based on the proportion, of the total costs incurred by the Service and courts for essential services directly related to the naturalization process, which are incurred by courts.

(2)The Attorney General shall provide on an annual basis to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate a detailed report on the use of the fees described in paragraph (1) and shall consult with such Committees before increasing such fees.

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original, “this Act”, meaning act June 27, 1952, ch. 477, 66 Stat. 163, known as the Immigration and Nationality Act, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section
1101 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–273substituted “Except as provided by section
1356(q)(2) of this title or any other law, all” for “All”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–232, § 309(b)(14), which provided for a clarifying amendment to subsec. (c), could not be executed, because the phrase which was to be amended did not appear after the amendment by Pub. L. 102–232, § 309(a)(1)(A)(ii), see below.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(d)(19)(B), (C), (F), redesignatedsubsec. (g) as (c), struck out “, and all fees paid over to the Attorney General by clerks of courts under the provisions of this subchapter,” before “shall be deposited by” and “or by the clerks of the courts” before “from applicants residing in”, and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows: “The clerk of any naturalization court specified in subsection (a) ofsection
1421 of this title (except the courts specified in subsection (d) of this section) shall account for and pay over to the Attorney General one-half of all fees up to the sum of $40,000, and all fees in excess of $40,000, collected by any such clerk in naturalization proceedings in any fiscal year.”

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(c)(20), (d)(19)(B), (D), (F), redesignatedsubsec. (h) as (d), substituted “the Attorney General may not” for “no clerk of a United States court shall” and “an application” for “a petition”, struck out before period at end “, and no clerk of any State court shall charge or collect any fee for such services unless the laws of the State require such charge to be made, in which case nothing more than the portion of the fee required to be paid to the State shall be charged or collected. A report of all transactions under this subsection shall be made to the Attorney General as in the case of other reports required of clerks of courts by this subchapter” and struck out former subsec. (d) which read as follows: “The clerk of any United States district court (except in the District Court of the Virgin Islands of the United States and in the District Court of Guam) shall account for and pay over to the Attorney General all fees collected by any such clerk in naturalization proceedings: Provided, however, That the clerk of the District Court of the Virgin Islands of the United States and of the District Court of Guam shall report but shall not be required to pay over to the Attorney General the fees collected by any such clerk in naturalization proceedings.”

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(c)(20), (d)(19)(B), (E), (F), redesignatedsubsec. (i) as (e), substituted “an application” for “a petition” and “applicant” for “petitioner” wherever appearing, substituted references to Attorney General for references to clerk of court wherever appearing, and struck out former subsec. (e) which read as follows: “The accounting required by subsections (c) and (d) of this section shall be made and the fees paid over to the Attorney General by such respective clerks in their quarterly accounts which they are required to render to the Attorney General within thirty days from the close of each quarter of each and every fiscal year, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Attorney General.”

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 101–649, § 407(d)(19)(B), struck out subsec. (f) which read as follows: “The clerks of the various naturalization courts shall pay all additional clerical force that may be required in performing the duties imposed by this subchapter upon clerks of courts from fees retained under the provisions of this section by such clerks in naturalization proceedings.”

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 100–459, as amended by Pub. L. 102–232, § 309(a)(1)(A)(ii), inserted “except that all such fees collected or paid over on or after October 1, 1988, shall be deposited in the Immigration Examinations Fee Account established under section
1356(m) of this title” after “Treasury of the United States”.

1968—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90–609inserted reference to section
483a of title
31 and substituted provisions making reference to setting of fees by Attorney General for provisions establishing fees of $10 and $5 respectively for covered services.

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 90–609substituted fees received under this subchapter for fees received under subsec. (b) of this section as description of fees received from applicants residing in the Virgin Islands of the United States and in Guam which are turned over to the treasury of the Virgin Islands and Guam respectively.

1958—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 85–508struck out “in Alaska and” before “in the District Court of the Virgin Islands”.

Effective Date of 1991 Amendment

Amendment by section 102(b)(3) ofPub. L. 102–232effective 30 days after Dec. 12, 1991, see section 102(c) ofPub. L. 102–232, set out as a note under section
1421 of this title.

Amendment by section 309(a)(1)(A)(ii) ofPub. L. 102–232effective as if included in the enactment of the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1989, Pub. L. 100–459, title II, see section 309(a)(3) ofPub. L. 102–232, as amended, set out as a note under section
1356 of this title.

Effective Date of 1981 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 97–116applicable to fiscal years beginning on or after Oct. 1, 1981, see section 21(b)(2) ofPub. L. 97–116, set out as a note under section
1101 of this title.

Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and Transfer of Functions

For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service, transfer of functions, and treatment of related references, see note set out under section
1551 of this title.